1. The 5th Meeting of Directors-General of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the ROK, China and Japan will take place in Seoul on December 15.

* The delegations from the ROK, China and Japan will be led by Jang Keun-ho, Li Baorong and Masashi Mizukami, respectively.

2. The Meeting was established as a trilateral cooperation channel on Latin America, through which the countries share information on the situation in Latin America and on their policies on the region. The 5th Meeting will focus on ways to promote trilateral cooperation in the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) as well as with major Latin American organizations, and potential areas of trilateral cooperation projects in the region.

3. On the sidelines of the trilateral Meeting, the ROK will hold the 9th such bilateral meetings with China and Japan to discuss matters of mutual concern with respect to cooperation in Latin America as well as ways to increase bilateral cooperation.

4. The Meeting, held regularly in the three countries on a rotational basis since 2006, is expected to help strengthen the trilateral cooperative ties by enhancing understanding on their respective policies on Latin America; and seek ways to improve their foreign policies on the region, which has lately been rising as an emerging economy and expanding its role on the international stage.

                              Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation